Winding and feeding mechanism.



No. 789,787. PATENTED MAY 16, 1905.

, G. J. BBLLAMY. WINDING AND FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1, 1904.

UNrTnn STATES Patented. May 16, 1905.

WINDING AND FEEDING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,787, dated May 16,1905.

Application filed February 1, 1904. Serial No. 191,499.

To all whom it WMLZ/ concern:

Be it known that I, GHARLns J. BELLAMY, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of Springfield, in the county of Hampden andCommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful l/Vindingand Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for winding andfeeding paper, cloth, and other kinds of fabric in which are employed aplurality of tape-sup porting members and the tape supported thereby,one of such members being a magazine-roll upon which the fabric isadapted to be wound and from which the fabric is adapted to beafterward. fed, with or without certain other parts and members, all ashereinafter set forth; and the objects of my improvement are to providemechanism both for winding paper, cloth, and other varieties of fabricupon a magazine-roll and for feeding the same from said roll, asdesired. Such mechanism as this is adapted to successfully andconveniently handle paper, cloth, and other varieties of fabric, eitherin web or lengths, either in sheets or strips in sequence, or can besatisfactorily employed to handle short lengths in conjunction with acontinuous web, or short lengths in double thickness, or two webs.Heretofore, in particular, much difficulty has been experienced inattempting to wind into a roll separate or independent sheets of paper.WVith my mechanism I am able not only to wind up the separate sheets insequence, but to deliver them thereafter in like manner. In winding,

. the sheet or strip is pushed into the-bite formed by the tape and themagazine-roll. Feeding is done either by directly actuating thetape-supporting members, the action of which is reversed from what it isin winding, or by sequentially pulling upon the exposed ends of thesheets or strips wound on the magazine-roll. The preferred method of Iattain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of mymechanism free from such attachments or connections as might be adaptedto facili tate the intake and delivery under certain conditions and forcertain uses; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section on lines or itlooking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a diagramillustrating a construction with two of the tape-supporting members infixed bearings; Fig. A, a diagram illustrating atritape-supportingmember construction, the magazine-roll having [ixedbearings and the other two tape-supporting members having movablebearings; and Fig. 5, a diagram illustrating a modified form somewhatsimilar to the construction shown in Fig. 4.

Similar letters refer to similar throughout the several views.

The end of the device into which paper is taken or at which paper isdelivered is herein termed the working or front end,the same being theleft-hand end of each view, and this is to be kept in mind in thefollowing description, so that no confusion may arise as to the relativeposition or location of certain of the members.

I will proceed first to describe in detail what is herein termed for thesake of clearness the preferred construction and will afterward explainthe several modifications shown of the construction termed preferred;butit is obvious that some one or more of these modifications mayconstitute a construction or constructions equal in every particular tothe one first to be described.

As a convenient support for the rotary and other parts which enterintimately into the device shown in the first two views a frame A may beprovided, from the sides of which near one end rise side pieces orupright supports B. Two tape-supporting members 6 and f and a thirdtape-supporting member or magazineroll 9 for the paper or other fabrichave their trunnions or ends of their shafts c, f, and g, respectively,journaled in the supports B, the shaft-s c and f being received in slotsZ) in said supports, while the shaft g has stationary bearings therein.The slots 6 are arranged parts horizontally in the supports B. Springs Zoutside of the supports B, having their ends fastened to pins m and theprojecting ends of the shafts a and f, serve to tension said shafts withtheir tape-supporting members toward the left or forward.

The magazine-roll 9 generally consists of a substantial core andwhatever fabric may be wound thereon, or if there be no fabric thereonthen of course there is only the core to the roll. Hence it will be seenthat the appella tion for this tape-supporting member is intended tohave a wide range and to be broadly interpreted.

A tape-supporting member j has its trunnions or the ends of its shaft 7"journaled in brackets Zr 70, securely attached to the sides of the frameA back of the supports B.

The tape-supporting members a. f, and j, by preference, have a pluralityof annular grooves 0 to divide each into as many annular ridges as thereare tapes which are adapted to run on said ridges. I have shown threeendless tapes p, although the number may be greater or less, arrangedside by side on their supporting members. These tapes are supported onraised portions of the members a, f, and j, as hercinbefore stated,which they encompass, and are so arranged that in passing from themember a to the member f they partially embrace the magazine-roll g. Inother words, the aforesaid members support and are encircled by a seriesof parallel tapes. The members 0 and f form approximately the base of atriangle and the member 7' forms the apex thereof, while themagazine-roll g is pushed into the slack between said members a and fand held or cradled there by the tapes. Thus it will be seen that owingto the influence of the springs Zon the members a and f the tapes mustalways hold the magazine-roll in a partial but effective embrace,controlling the varying periphery thereofvarying-as material is woundonor off of said magazineroll. This arrangement of tape-supporting membersaccomplishes two purposes iirst, it secures simultaneous movement ofmembers, and, second, it furnishes the means for successfullymanipulating the magazine-roll regardless of its varying diameter, thelatter being an absolutely essential feature in a device of this kind.

Assuming that it is desired to form a roll of independent sheets ofpaper with the device just described, the operation is as follows:Actuate the mechanism by means of a hand-wheel or pulley q on one end ofthe shaft so that the tapes 2) travel in the direction of the arrow inFig. 2, and insert the end of a sheet of paper in the bite formed bysaid tapes and the upper portion of the magazineroll 9. The sheet isimmediately wound onto the magazine-roll by the tape passing over andaround said roll. Before the sheet has 5 entirely disappearedthat is tosay, before the bottom of the sheet has passed into the aforesaidbitethe head or top of a second sheet is inserted in said bite above thefoot or lower portion of its predecessor. The secondsheet follows thefirst, a third follows the second, and as many more as are required tomake up the roll. As the paper accumulates on the magazine-roll thetapes 7) draw the members 6 and f backward against the resiliency of thesprings Z, the shafts a and f moving rearwardly in the slots 6. When themagazine-roll becomes larger, it calls for more length of tape in thereach in which it is partially embraced, and accordingly the members 0and f are moved back just enough to yield the needed length of tapewhich goes about the circumference of the magazine-roll, the extent oftape in the reach between said members e and f always remaining thesame. To feed the paper from the device or unwind it from themagazine-roll, actuate the mechanism so that the tapes shall travel inthe opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 or drawout one sheet after another by pulling upon an exposed end. The brokenlines '1 and r in Fig. 2 represent adjacent and lapped ends of twosheets, by which it will be observed that before one sheet is clear ofthe magazine-roll and the tapes the end of another sheet becomes exposedor is brought into position,where it can bereadily seized with thefingers and thumb of the operator, since the sheets always feed with thesame lap given them in winding. As the size of the magazine-rolldiminishes the members a and f move forward again, because the springs Zalways keep the tapes taut. In other words, as the circumference of themagazineroll decreases it requires less of the tape, and

.the latter yields to the tension of the springs Z; but the length oftape given off the circumference is taken up by reaches between themembers a and f and the magazine-roll.

From the foregoing the complete operation of the mechanism will beunderstood, and it will be seen, furthermore, that continuous strips,either singly or in plurality, may be handled, as well as a line ofindependent sheets, or such a line of sheets together with a continuousstrip. In short, various combinations of sheets or strips or sheets andstrips may be successfully manipulated by my mechanism.

Renewed attention is called to the fact that although I have describedthe mechanism as being used in winding or feeding paper it is applicableas well to many other kinds of fabric for which, as in the case ofpaper, it will be found useful both for web and sheet lengths or for thetwo together, one over the other, to be wound upon or fed from the samemagazine-roll.

I will now proceed to briefly describe in detlail the diagramsconstituting Figs. 3, A an 5.

In Fig. 3 the tape-supporting members 6 and f are mounted in fixedbearings. The magazine-roll is also in fixed bearings. Thetape-supporting member j is shown in movable bearings, (represented at20,) springs, as indicated at Z, being used to tension and keep thetapes taut.

In Fig. 4 the number of tape-supporting members is reduced to three, themagazineroll is fixed, and the members a and f are mounted in movablebearings (represented at n Q2) under tension to the left, so as to keepthe tape tight against the magazine-roll. The Fig. 4: construction issimilar to the Fig. 2 construction.

Fig. 5 is a modification of the tritape-member construction shown inFig. 4:, in which the members a and f", which correspond with themembers a and f in the other views, consist of bars slidingly mounted inbearings (represented at o o) and springtensioned forward. It will beobserved that the tape in this case is not endless.

In view of the many forms which my invention takes I do not wish to beconfined or restricted to any one of the exact constructions andarrangements herein shown and described, as minor changes therein may bemade without departing from the nature of my invention. It is plainly tobe seen that the sizes of the different members and shapes of some ofthem will vary under different circumstances, both actual and relative,and that they may be difierently mounted. Especially will numerous kindsof resilient or yielding bearings for the tape-supporting membersreadily occur to those skilled in the art. Hence I do not wish to belimited to the particular forms shown. Moreover, the rotary members maybe actuated by applying power elsewhere than to the shaft Certain of thetape-supporting members, which are herein shown and described at leastinferentially as rollers having rotary motion, need not always have suchmotion nor be of roller formation, but may consist of stationary partsof some other suitable formation, and even the tape need not move in allcases.

As before intimated, a single tape, band, or belt may be substituted fora plurality of such members in some cases, and it is quite possible toconceive of a construction wherein mere cords, strings, or even threadsmay be employed in place of tapes.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In fabric winding and feeding mechanism, the combination of aplurality of tapesupporting members and the tape supported thereby, anda magazine-roll partially embraced by said tape in the reach between twosupporting members, which said members are at an unvarying distanceapart, the potential extent of the tape being more than sufficient toconnect all of the supporting members when the magazine-roll is thusembraced and is of its smallest circumference.

2. In fabric winding and feeding mechanism, the combination of aplurality of tapesupporting members, at least one of which is in movablebearings, and the tape supported thereby, and a magazineroll partiallyembraced by said tape in the reach between two supporting members, whichare at an unvarying distance apart the potential extent of the tapebeing more than sufiicient to connect all of the supporting memberswhile embracing said magazine-roll when it is of its smallestcircumference.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES J. BELLAMY. Witnesses:

S. S. TAFT, F. A. CUTTER.

